A Few Steps Back
by Taijen
Summary: Sasuke was the world's last hope after the fall of The Child of Prophecy, but after Tobi went nuts and blow up the world. Sasuke is given a second chance to save his world, now sent back to a time before him. Can Sasuke save his world before the problems began?
1. New Look, Old Soul

**_A Few Steps Back_**

* * *

The once rich and luscious land known as the fire country was now a horribly ironic reminder of what it use to be, the black eternal flames of Amaterasu burned across the land day and night. The grass no longer grew and the trees couldn't even put up a fight, they long ago gave up. But Sasuke couldn't be the same, he so wished to had been the one to die by Tobi's hand not Naruto. The powerful shinobi was killed along with Killer Bee, Kakashi, and Gai.

Sasuke was the world's only hope after the kages were destroyed by the might of the eternal Madara Uchiha, it was only after learning the secrets of the Uchiha clan did Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo evolve. With the power of the Rinnegan and the Sharingan Sasuke sealed the immortal in a rift between dimensions, confining the immortal to eternal isolation

Sadly even with the Sage's eyes, Sasuke was no match for the power of Tobi and The Ten-Tails. Luckily Naruto manged to do one last heroic deed before he allowed himself to die, with the remaining of Kurama's chakra, Naruto summoned a Tailed beast bomb strong enough to blow up the moon. Destroying Tobi's entire plan, angering the mastermind to the point of insanity. Beginning a series of earth-shaking destruction, no one but Naruto could stop him.

That left Sasuke the leader of the remaining joint shinobi army, at least those that were willing to trust the missing ninja. Fighting Tobi and the Juubi on multiple accounts, years and years passed and the number dwindled till Sasuke was all that was left to oppose Tobi. This was Sasuke's last chance to destroy the bastard, he would finish the fourth shinobi war for all those who sacrificed their lives for peace.

"Tobi" Sasuke eyes began to lose the Rinnegan, exhaustion looming over him. As the Juubi Jinchuuriki, Tobi was invulnerability to even the most powerful of his justus.

"Sasuke why do you still fight me?" The masked man began to hysterically laugh at the younger Uchiha. Grabbing Sasuke by the collar of his white cloak, quickly Tobi caught the hidden attempt to slice his head. Blocking the weapon with merely the palm of his hand, he then snatched the weapon from Sasuke throwing it away.

"Sasuke tsk tsk.." Sasuke glared daggers at Tobi, his eyes reflecting his Mangekyo Sharingan. The flames of Amaterasu exploded randomly between the two men, burning Sasuke some at the recklessness of the attack. The flames suddenly began to sucked through a vortex, sending the ninjustu to another dimension.

_'Damn Kamui'_ Sasuke frowning at the failed attempt to kill the bastard. "It's sad really.. that you're that desperate Sasuke. This isn't fun anymore, I kept you around hoping you would make things more interesting"

Tobi summoned the Juubi, the earth trembled and shook violently as the ultimate tailed beast released a mighty roar. Its ten tails swayed back and forth creating violent winds, and its giant eye illuminated the moonless world. "I hoped you would be the one to kill me Sasuke, a world without peace is nothing I want to be apart of.."

The Juubi began to gather chakra, the power assembling into a massive tailed beast bomb bigger than anything Sasuke had ever seen. Tobi stood before the dying Sasuke, he reached for his mask and a truffle of black hair popped forth. Sasuke's eye began to be blurred, as he couldn't make out the rest of Tobi's true face.

"So I take the world in my own hands.."

The massive ball of destruction shot forward, burrowing its way into the earth. "And crush it!"

And then everything went white, the existence of the entire world was wiped away by the insane Uchiha. Sasuke began to feel a sensation of floating, being dead was apparently awkward. He was cold and empty, where every he was hell or elsewhere it was truly a drag.

Sasuke found himself chuckling abit as a bitter-sweet smirk came upon his face, he remembered the lazy genius and how often he tried to avoid work. Choji was a different story, Sasuke never realized the value of his skill set into after the guy's death. The chubby man had a big heart without even expanding it, much like Naruto.

With nothing but emptiness and void of life anywhere, it left Sasuke to retrace his path in life. And looking back he realized Naruto really was something special, the same kid who he thought would be a loser forever had surpassed him long ago. But to Naruto that didn't matter he only wanted his 'friend' back, how could Naruto be so naïve and stupid to consider him a friend.

Sasuke now understood that is wasn't hopeless, he was being naïve, Naruto was being hard headed. A quality that Sasuke envied now more than ever, even to his last breath Naruto manged to be the hero he strived to be. Naruto changed people it was evident with the rookie 9, team gai, the villagers, Zabuza, Nagato, and even in the end he changed Sasuke.

"You finally did it Naruto. It took a while but I finally got the message.." Sasuke began to feel his eyes sting some, warmness slide down his cheeks. He shed a tear for the fallen world, the future generations lost, Itachi, Naruto, and even himself.

"You tried to save me Naruto, you tried to save me from myself but I was blinded.."

"I'm so sorry"

Suddenly the unfamiliar touch of soft warm hands touched the Uchiha's cheek, the hands turned Sasuke allowing him to see a beautiful woman. "Sakura" Sasuke delusional and confused, he mistaken the angelic woman for his past teammate. The woman smiled warmly at Sasuke, she wiped away his shed tears. The woman was absolutely heavenly, her hair was brown and extremely long. They complimented her honeysuckle hue eyes, her skin was lightly tanned and she wore robes of pure white.

She grabbed Sasuke's hand leading him somewhere, the darkness seemed to have no direction but she seemed to know what to do. Sasuke began to blink as he saw a glowing light ahead of them, he found it slightly corny to go to the light at the end of the tunnel. But anywhere was better than nothing.

The light became so strong Sasuke shielded his eyes, before they adjusted to the new area. To his surprise he found himself in a temple surrounded by thrones, each throne was gigantic in size. And so was each women that sat in them, every women barley dressed showed off ample chest and long legs. Sasuke had to hide the shock the best he could mange. This was completely blowing his mind, each women seemed to study him.

Some of them frowned at the ninja as if he was a pig, others simply seemed fascinated by his appearance. A burst of light fulled the entire room, so powerful that Sasuke had to shield his eyes once again. In the place of the light formed a woman who seemed like a 60 ft tall version of Tsunade, she sat at the throne that seemed to be the center point of the room.

She looked down upon the Uchiha, a small frown formed upon her face when she saw him. "Ladies, thank you for agreeing to meet me with the issues that concern this human"

The giant blonde women referring to Sasuke, he couldn't help but be uneasy at the mention of himself and an issue. Nowadays with all the crazy stunts he had pulled it didn't surprise him much to be persecuted for his crimes in the afterlife.

"Sasuke Uchiha you will now be judged by the creators of your world and others"

Sasuke nearly choked on his spit, the creators of his world and others was a little hard to imagine being a room full of model like women. "Creators?"

"Yes boy we are the creators of the dimensions, and are the mothers of each world in existence. We are the Amazons and we don't tolerate arrogant humans"

"What am I being charged for?"

"You are charged with crimes against humanity slaughtering the innocent, starting war, and allowing the Earth to be destroyed" Her voiced boomed with power, despite the fact that she was calm.

Sasuke knew the day would come and he would have to face his mistakes, now he wasn't sure what awaited here. But he was willing to accept the consequences.

"But it has come to our attention that you did experience a change of heart, and tried to defeat the fool known as Tobi" Sasuke nodded in confirmation.

"You're a very much a lost cause Uchiha, but we believe very much in second chances. Hints the reason you even have the honor of being here and judged instead of condemned" She held a strong glare upon him, but less in anger and more as she was irritated.

"We shall vote on the fate of this mortal" She stood up from her throne and walked toward Sasuke, she placed her giant hand on the ground allowing Sasuke to climb aboard. She lifted him for all the Amazons to see, an Amazon to the further right raised her right hand. "Aye" she uttered the simple phrase, Sasuke not sure if that was good.

Next to her another Amazon raised her right hand, and she frowned at Sasuke. "Nay"

This continued for the next few minutes as each Amazon either said 'nay' or 'aye', now almost around the entire room the only one left was the women who held him. She looked at him intensely for a bit, before she raised her right hand and slowly spoke the word.

"Aye"

"It is unanimous Sasuke Uchiha shall be granted a second chance to right his wrong and save his world" She placed her other hand around him, encompassing him as a visible energy waves began to surround Sasuke trapping him in a golden sphere.

"Good bye and good luck human, may your journey be successful" Sasuke began to feel nausea wash over him, he lost his consciousness. The last thing he saw was the smiling face of the Amazon.

...

"M..ato!"

"M..nato!"

"Minato!"

A boy immediately leaped forward, sweating profoundly he seemed pretty shook up. "Minato? Who's Minato?" Sasuke looked to the window and noticed a pale boy with dark hair knocking at the window. He had his hair tied in a ponytail that went forward with his hair with bangs framing the sides of his face. The kid was odd looking and possibly gay, he knocked on the window again.

"Minato get your ass up! Or we're going to be late. I'll be at the front door" The kid then jumped from the roof

"Minato? Why did that kid call me-" Sasuke then looked to his right where he caught his image, or someone else. Sasuke found himself looking face to face with the Fourth Hokage as a child. Instead of a mane of raven locks he saw a collection of blonde spikes, blue eyes instead of dark. He tried directing his chakra to his eyes but nothing changed, no Mangekenyo or Rinnegan formed just plain blue eyes.

"Damn Amazons"

* * *

_**There you go first chapter of 'A Few Steps Back', this idea came pretty randomly original I wanted to use the same concept but have Sasuke came back without the Sharingan and no skill in ninjustu like Lee. Which is a huge loss for him, but midway through I had another idea and went with this one. The boy I was referring to is the boy from Minato's genin squad, the boy to his left. Look up Team Jiraiya on Narutopedia to get an idea of what he looks like.**_

_**But tell me what you guys think, I may continue this but this was more of a one-shot. Really depends on the popularity. I need at least one review to even consider continuing this fic. So if you like please review, it makes a writer feel like writing more!**_

_**Anyway Taijen signing off, Have a blessed day.**_


	2. The First Day is Always Troublsome

**A_ Few Steps Back_**

* * *

"Damn Amazons."

Sasuke muttered to himself as he searched through the unfamiliar bedroom to find a decent pair of clothes, after a swift hygiene check, he settled on a black short-sleeved shirt with vertical thick white lines on the sides and a pair of white shorts.

Fully dressed and cleaned up with little to no time he caught his reflection once more, he stared hard at the blue eyes of the Fourth's body. It felt positively chilling being in the body of another person, his soul occupying the vacant body of The Fourth Hokage. Sasuke pondered what became of the orignal soul, how the hell would he replace such a man in history?

Sasuke, broke his gaze, swinging the door open to see the half-naked wet figure of a teenage girl. Sasuke stood dumbfounded before he instinctively reached for his kunai, cursing silently as he grasped thin air. He stood there for a second surprised by the unsuspecting presence of an admittedly attractive blonde girl, her fist formed to knock on the door.

"Minato what was taking you so long to get up, get a move on before you're late." Her blue eyes reflected annoyance as she rolled her eyes, before she stormed off to her room. Slamming the door behind her, Sasuke stared after the girl as she had left.

_'Minaka.'_

The name seemed to be whispered in his mind, somehow he knew that girl was his sister, and despite the unfamiliarity of the apartment ;Sasuke lead himself to the well furnished living room. Spotting a shelf full of picture frames, all were images from The Fourth's life, there was a picture of a smiling Minato/himself with Minaka having a picnic under a blooming pink cherry blossom tree.

"Minato make sure you eat your breakfast, and have a good day." Minaka peeped her head out from her room as she called.

Sasuke threw a side glance at the steaming plate of eggs and rice, reminding the Uchiha of the last time he had a decent meal cooked for him. During the war there really wasn't a major demand for quality food, just survival. With Orchimaru he simply ate what seemed the most normal of choices when Kabuto brought him meals, and after the massacre he cooked for himself. Which always turned out half decent in edibility, so it wasn't a complete disgrace to his reputation when he wolfed down the eggs and rice with little time to spare.

After a thirst quenching gulp of whole milk, a satisfying belch erupted from him, he frowned slighty because of the foregin action. Sasuke turned around to the receiving end of a thoughtful gaze, Minaka had watched him for who knows how long, she seemed to study him. Minaka rushed him with untraceable speed, following his instincts, Sasuke reached for the knife on the table.

Sasuke slashed horizontal in reverse grip, cutting through the air particles with an impressive whistling of the wind. Sasuke cursed himself for being so careless to underestimate the female, she was obviously a strong kunochi. Minaka stood behind her brother as she held his arm in a submission hold, slamming his face down against the round wooden table.

She dipped her head forward, just inches from his ear, she was in control and this proved to be a disastrous day to start a new life. She whispered a bone-chilling phrase into his ear while increasing the pressure on the locked limb, making his now tan face pale in comparison to her own.

"I know your secret_ brother_.."

Though caught off guard, Sasuke tried to conjure up a counter statement but he could barely determine the era he was in.

"It's obvious that you haven't been training with the new weights I got you."

She released his arm, allowing Sasuke to put some space between himself and the crazy blonde, there was no doubt about it. She was definitely the Fourth's sister, her speed could easily have matched/surpass his own in his former body. Minaka's nostrils flared increasingly, signaling her harboring feelings of anger toward Sasuke, she suddenly closed her eyes and exhaled calmly.

"Minato why don't you listen to me anymore? You know I try and try to give us the life Mom would have wanted for us. But I just- I don't know."

Minaka sighed as if this was a repeated argument, revealing dark circles under her eyes. Making Minaka look older than what her youthful appearance gave off. The voice had returned in his head, this time sputtering out an entire barrage of excuses and reasons which didn't seem relevant to Sasuke. Yet Sasuke found himself acting out of his will, following a lingering desire to comfort her.

"I'm s-sorry Minaka.."

The apology formed from his mouth very awkwardly, which the former 'heart-throb of Konoha' was not renowned for. Sasuke couldn't control the emotions that clouded his mind, he wasn't acting like himself, was it possible that Minato's soul controled some aspects of this body still. Trying to force the apology to be as genuine as possible, the image of his fallen brother seemed to replace the blonde before him.

"I'm sorry. I should've listen to you all of these years. Just please don't leave me alone."

Minaka was caught by surprise when her brother suddenly jumped her with unforseen speed and strength, clinging to her waist, he embraced her as if he was afraid she would float away if he didn't hold her. She couldn't quiet recall the last time Minato had ever hugged her, or even expressed such remorse, she returned the love.

"Don't worry Minato, I am not ever going to leave you alone. You maybe annoying but I'm stuck with you anyway, that's what siblings do right? We protect each other, I'm just doing my job."

She squeezed him back with all the strength she could muster up, and grinned at the blonde boy while ruffling up his naturally unruly spiked hair. She suddenly pushed him away playfully, and went out of the kitchen with determined pep in her step. Quickly Minaka returned with her jonin flak jacket on and her ninja gear in place, she tossed a weapons pouch to Sasuke.

"Come here Minato, before you're late for school."

She pointed to the couch, Sasuke complied with the simple command and plopped down on the couch. Immediately she grabbed his left leg and reached into her multi-pocketed flak jacket to unveil a horde of sealing tags, she grabbed one and began to wrap it around his ankle with experienced accuracy she tightly bound the seal and injected a bit of chakra into the seal. Repeating the process even faster than the first attempt, Minaka worked with a practiced ease, she had to be a seal master in her free time.

Finally Minaka stood from her kneeled position examining her handiwork, she beamed in pride. Sasuke watched Minaka uneasily, the smile easily could be interpreted as a devious smirk. She suddenly reappeared by the door as if she had flashed to it, swinging it open to the outside world, she nudged her head toward the exit.

"Well go on Minato before you're late," She smiled sweetly but something told him that the smile was mischievous in meaning. Shaking off the feeling of distrust he stood from the couch, and immediately fell flat on his face. Minaka's laughter suddenly filled the apartment as she was filled with delight at the downfall of her brother, she loved the look on his face when she pranked him. Sasuke raised his head from the floor, throwing Minaka the infamous 'Uchiha death glare' which did nothing but make her laugh harder.

"What did you do to me?"

Sasuke tried to stay calm but could not stop the edge in his tone. Minaka strolled over to him and beneath down, outside of Sasuke's field of vision, and fiddled with the seals once again. Thankfully it seemed as if she had turned down the gravity, allowing his muscles to be released from the pressure.

"So maybe I set the new seals to the max on accident, but hey prototypes always have bugs you know."

Minaka flashed her gorgeous smile which did wonders to simmer down the boiling Uchiha. Sasuke stood again and began to stretch his muscles, the world seemed heavier but wasn't burdening him down as before. He observed the seals and began to study the design and purpose of the seals. Minaka noticing his thoughtful gaze, it seemed like she was reading his mind as she answered his questions.

"They're a new creation of mine, they act as storages of chakra, which the user or a donor can supply." She pointed to the intricate ink marks that littered the seal, creating its purpose and power.

"The amount of chakra the seals can hold is unlimited, or more accurately the limits are unknown. But in theory the design of the seal allows any chakra that enters to be synthesized with the user's. Allowing a stored reserve of chakra to fall back on in emergencies."

Sasuke could only listen in interest at the blonde's creation, she was clearly a sealmaster, if not then a prodigy in the art. Sasuke continued to observe the seals that were wrapped around his ankles, the heftiness of such thin paper sparked his curiosity. Yet somehow again Minaka read his mind, it was actually starting to get really annoying but cool.

"The weight you feel actually comes from the buildup of chakra, the physical side of the body that plays a part in chakra. Which results in the weight you felt when I injected a tad bit too much of my own chakra into the seals."

"So they're like artificial weights, but instead just seals. Kind of like a gravity seal of some manner." Sasuke stretched his limbs a bit, adjusting to the heavier feel of things. Minaka smiled in approval of the name, she herself had spent hours trying to conjure up a worthy name.

"Gravity seals, that fits perfectly. They exert artificial gravity upon the body based on amount of chakra stored in them and potency of the chakra." Minaka unintentionally rambled on, until she was cut off by her brother again.

"Which is also why my face kissed the floor."

Sasuke threw a heated glare at Minaka, the blonde was despicable, but he couldn't hate her for some reason. Whether it be because of the Fourth, the Amazons, or even Itachi; the blonde vaguely reminded him of the dobe.

"Yes in deedy that would be the reason."

Minaka grinned teasingly at her brother. A sudden loud racket could be heard through the hallways which brought the blonde duo's attention to the open door, the boy who knocked at Sasuke's window stood there. Glaring daggers at Sasuke, he seemed to be out of breath, he leaned against the door trying to catch his breath.

"Minato..we are going..to.. to be..late..kami those stairs are killer." The strange boy hunched over trying to collect himself, Minaka gave the boy a friendly smile and waved.

"Good morning Okyu, how are you?"

Immediately the boy began to blush as he finally noticed the attractive teen in the room, he quickly stood erect and began stammering a bit. He pushed past Sasuke and stood in front of Minaka, grinning ear to ear. Sasuke could already see the hearts in Okyu's eyes, he recognized the love-sick symptoms of a rabid fan and Okyu was Minaka's fanboy.

Sasuke for the first time in years had the urge to laugh and not because of someone's misery or sick pleasure from killing, but instead the irony of seeing someone suffer fandom was satisfying him greatly.

"Minaka-chan you look so beautiful this morning! As you usually do, not saying you don't look hot everyday because you do. And-" Minaka silenced Okyu's rambling by clamping his mouth closed with her hand.

"Though I appreciate the compliments, don't you two have to get to class.." Minaka pointed to the clock to the far wall, the boys followed her gesture. "I'm pretty sure that the academy starts in about 5 minutes or so."

Minaka had body-flickered to the large window that overlooked the streets of Konoha, sliding it open in time. She saw the blurring figures of Minato and Okyu streak through the window, and propelling themselves forward toward the rooftops of the Konoha market. She sighed in relief that this time she manged to open the window in time before they jumped through the window, last time she had to take the boys to the hospital to remove all the glass and patch them up.

She stared after their retreating forms as they leaped rooftop to rooftop, such a dangerous way of travel but definitely interesting to observe. The loud call of Okyu reached Minaka as she could see him in the distance waving, she smiled and waved back.

"Love you Minaka!"

_**XXX-**_

_**Sasuke/Minato and Okyu**_

Sasuke found himself cursing Minaka's name, as he rolled over a cooling vent and swung from a nearby electrical wire, the whole time following behind Okyu. As each moment passed Sasuke found memories coming to him as he mimicked every single maneuver Okyu made, this was apparently an everyday activity for the Fourth and Okyu. Swinging, rolling, flipping, jumping, anything and everything was used to eliminate obstacles as the two maneuvered through the world of the rooftops.

"Come on Minato, why are you so slow today?"

Okyu landed in a crouch and rolled forward, leaping over a stack of crates and achieved balance as he rested on a gate with practiced ease. Sasuke following close behind had to inhale large breaths of air, the weight of the gravity seals and the foreignness of this younger body made the exercise difficult.

"I'm just..these new..weights.. and.."

Sasuke paused in speech and noticed the worried look that was evident in Okyu's eyes, it was obvious that he was his bestfriend in this time. But Sasuke was never one for making new friends, or even friends in general. Sasuke waved him off, assuring him he was fine.

"Well no worries Minato, the academy is just in the distance."

Okyu pointed to the academy, which was noticeable different from the academy in Sasuke's former life. The Kyuubi attack did so much damage, that their wasn't a single similarity between the village he grew up in and this pre-Kyuubi attack village. Sasuke had to break into a sprint when he finally noticed Okyu had already began rooftop running once more, he heard the dark-haired kid yell something that piqued his interest.

"Come on Minato, Last one there has to take the blame for being late!"

Okyu leaped from a water tower, closing the distance between the streets then landed in a roll before breaking into a lengthy sprint.

Sasuke was starting to grow tired of Okyu's childish behavior by now, he willed his limbs to exert more strength. _'Tch he thinks I'm going to play this game.' _Glaring down through the crowd of people in the streets, he could make out the distinguishing bright red headband of Okyu. Finally he began to feel for the deep reserves of stored chakra from the seals, he reaped the benefits, Sasuke felt the rush of power fill his body.

_'I only win!'_

Supercharged with Minaka's synthesized chakra, he leaped ahead and began soaring through the air like a human jet. The sensation was addictive but he focused his movements, twisting his waist he rebounded off an apartment building. Rocketing himself toward the street, crashing into a few civilians before gaining balanced footing. Racing ahead through the crowd he was in meters of the academy and hot on Okyu's trail.

Sasuke suddenly swerved toward a department store, touching lightly on the building, he propelled himself with the remaining chakra toward the finish line leaving cracks in the wall in his exit.

Everything seemed to melt around him, Sasuke's acceleration was no longer his to control, he realized there was no slowing down. He braced for impact. Crashing head on into Okyu, knocking him off balance, and rocketing them forward as an awkward heap of limbs. Sasuke could hear Okyu yelling at him to slow down, ignoring the boy who he was interlocked with, he tried to concentrate less on the situation.

_'This power is nothing but a pool, and I'm drowning myself in it...'_

Sasuke calmed his nerves, and achieved a moment of enlightenment, almost forgetting that he was in danger.

_'..and now I resurface.' _

Abruptly the acceleration seemed to leave him, Sasuke pleased with the control he exercised, but the speed the two travel at was still to fast to avoid impact.

"AAAHH!"

Okyu yelled out while still being awkwardly locked with Sasuke, everything went white as the two crashed through the screen into their classroom. Yet still maintaining too much momentum they clashed with a desk and painfully tumbled down the long row of stairs.

"Mina..Oky..Minato! Okyu!"

Sasuke began to feel his senses returning normally, as he caught sight of a red-faced man screaming at him but that was barely audible over the roars of laughter from the students. Okyu emerged from unconsciousness, and immediately began to separate from the blonde trying to save whatever reputation he had. The irraritated instructor quickly grabbed the two boys and pulled them on their feet, by now the laughter was silenced.

"Minato Namikaze, Okyu Nara! You two are over 10 minutes late?! And now you burst into my classroom and make complete fools out of yourselves." The instructor who was a plump man with short brown hair and a full beard, he resembled a bear, gestured to a figure who Sasuke failed to notice.

"And you interrupted our new student, while she was introducing herself."

A girl stood before the class she had a round face with red hair, which made her look like a tomato. She wore a yellow kimono with a short-sleeved mesh shirt, a green obi, dark blue shorts, and blue standard shinobi sandals. Sasuke stared at her in puzzlement, he hoped this girl wasn't who he thought she was. She blushed a bit under Sasuke's strong gaze, she looked away in shyness.

Suddenly the bear teacher smacked the boys upside their heads, and ordered them to introduce themselves. Okyu groaned, he dragged his feet along, standing before the red-head he stuck out his hand.

"Okyu Nara. Nice to meet you new girl." Okyu offered his most charming smile, which did wonders on most of the female population.

She shook his hand while returning the smile, all heads turned to the blonde refusing to move. Sasuke suddenly became aware of the spotlight placed upon him, he wasn't sure how to play the part. Sasuke extended to her his finely tanned hand and forced the biggest smile he could muster, he spoke awkwardly despite his peaceful intentions.

"Sas- Minato Namikaze. Pleasure to meet you." She hesitantly shook the outstretched hand and blushed at his soft touch, she introduced herself as well.

"Kushina Uzumaki, nice to meet you."

Sasuke had to resist the immediate urge to bash his own skull in, he calculated all the disturbing factors. Yes this was Kushina Uzumaki, yes this was his best friend's Mom, yes this was the Fourth's body a.k.a Naruto's Dad. And now Sasuke had to make sure Naruto's birth was assured, this was a key factor in fixing the future.

_'So I guess I am Naruto's Dad now. This will probably destroy our already shaky friendship, what a drag.'_

* * *

**_Taijen here once again, so happy to finally finish this chapter up! Was debating whether to keep working on it, I had a draft just sitting there half done for months and finally had the inspiration to finish it. So hoped you enjoyed the chapter, honest and critical critcisim are welcomed. Have a great day my fellow fanfic readers/authors. Any questions about this fic please feel free to PM me! Laters._**


	3. Adjusting : A Worthy Comrade?

**A_ Few Steps Back_**

* * *

_Shink!_

_'One..' _A blonde flash hurled a shuriken at the straw dummy, effectively driving the tool into the target's bullseye. He ignored the sudden thunderous clapping that emerged after his first attempt_._

_Shink!_

_'Two..' _The blonde child known as Minato Namikaze reared his wrist in an odd twisting formation, then slung the second shuriken at the straw dummy. A scowl settled upon his features as he noticed the skewed trajectory of the shuriken. He missed the bullseye by just a few millimeters.

_Shink!_

_'Three.' _The final steel projectile rocketed from the graceful hands of the blonde, as he was slightly pleased to make up for his prior slip up. The shuriken pierced the last bullseye with an impressive display of power and speed, the wind screeched due to its speed. A subtle proof of his skill.

"Great job, as usual Minato-kun." Minato nodded in the direction of his instructor, who smiled approvingly at the child's humble yet warm personality. Though at the moment he didn't realize how uncharacteristic Minato was at the moment, now the ultra ego of a Uchiha prodigy inhabited the body of the sweet boy.

Minato regarded the straw dummy but once before he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stalked cooly to the back of the line, the whole time he ignored the eyes that followed him subtly. Girls stared at him as he walked by, muttering among themselves things like 'Minato-kun is so strooong!' and 'Minato-kun is mine!'. While the majority of the male population of the class sneered at the Namikaze , and cursed his name.

The blonde simply tuned them all out as he raked a small hand through his truffle of unruly hair, _'Hn. Just like the old days, somethings never change I guess.'_

Minato walked past the few others who had displayed their shuriken accuracy skills prior to himself. He sat upright against a tree away from the others, allowing himself some privacy and time to think. The blonde watched the remaining students show off their skills while he tried to battle his mental breakdown, though to the surrounding bystanders the Namikaze just looked deep in thought.

_'What in the world were they thinking when they sent me here, in this body, at this time, with such a mission.' _Minato allowed his memory to recall the meeting with the Amazons back when he was still 21 year old Sasuke Uchiha, an unattractive scowl settled upon his features at the thought_. 'I'm not Sasuke Uchiha anymore, I am Minato Namikaze...no matter how desperately I wish this was a sick genjustu Madara cast upon me. But there's just no waking up from this huh?'_

Minato set his deep blue eyes upon the vivid crimson hair of Kushina, she stood in line with the rest for their shuriken trail. She seemed to move constantly, not once remaining still for the entire minute Minato observed her. He gave a begrudging nod, she was definitely Naruto's mother.

_'Looks like she's where he got his annoying ways from, and Naruto got his looks from the Yondaime-'_

"Yo Minato!" The blonde Academy student was startled from his train of thought by the boisterous call of Okyu Nara, his so-called best friend of this life. The Nara child withdrew three shuriken and pointed to the straw dummy, "Watch this new trick I learned!"

Suddenly Minato felt his senses tingle and go haywire as a warning, his underdeveloped chakra sensory skills were trying to kick in. But to no avail, the winds seemed to unnaturally gather in the area. Kicking up dust and swaying around the other students and teacher violently, Minato nearly leaped from his relaxed place as realization hit him.

_'These winds..this feeling.. Okyu's chakra, his wind chakra.'_

Thick and visible wind chakra washed over the three shuriken Okyu held between the spaces of his knuckles, he hurled the wind-enhanced projectiles at the straw dummy. The tools mowed through the weak cloth material of the dummy, and separated it into three sections. The butchered target collapsed in a disheveled heap upon the dirt field of the Academy training yard.

Okyu then turned his attention back to his companion, who was noticeably shocked by the display of nature transformation. Okyu allowed a cocky smirk to tug at his lips, he hollered out to his rival. "So, pretty cool huh?"

Minato acted out of instinct more than thought, the blonde erased his look of surprise and schooled his features into an impassive manner. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the left, "Hn."

The cocky Nara glared at the stoic Namikaze, the sudden shift in the blonde's personality irked his nerves greatly. "Damn you Minato, and your hip attitude!", Okyu murmured aloud to himself before he was reprimanded by their Academy instructor. Toru Akimichi, slapped Okyu upside his head before he began to lecture the Nara.

"You little show-off you destroyed the target dummy, now the other students do not receive a turn! Okyu you will make up for this by restitching and putting the dummy back together. Is that understood Mr. Nara?"

Toru eye-balled the Academy student, while the child simply stared at the ground in disappointment. Okyu answered promptly "Yes sir, Toru-sama."

Toru felt a wave of grief flood from the child which bothered the instructor to a great extent, he sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright then, everyone else head back inside. We will continue to go over Konohagakure's history for the remainder of the day."

With that said the students groaned in despair and walked aimlessly to the entrance into the Academy, with the exception of Minato Namikaze. The lone blonde observed Okyu meagerly tried to collect the hay to stuff the target dummy, Minato looked on with mild interest yet was also unattached. A frown graced his features while he looked between the Nara and the entrance back to the Academy, abruptly he began to walk back toward the Academy.

"Tche, I barely know that guy. I could care less if this is the Yondaime's friend or not, I have better things to do than make friends." Minato stuffed his hands in his pockets and scrunched up his features in annoyance, he rather not socialize with the very people who degraded his past clan. Approaching the door he yanked it open and looked upon the stairs leading to the classroom, yet his body refused to move any further.

Images of a certain red-head bombarded his disturbed mind, he shivered unconsciously at the thought of having to eventually court Kushina. Feelings of resentment invaded his conflicted mind, he squeezed the doorknob as he shook with bubbling rage. Konoha was still in turmoil with the Uchiha even in this time period, though no longer a Uchiha. Minato promised himself he would forge a future of peace and the survival of his past clan. Catching his reflection in the slim window on the door his frown vanished, he saw a teenage Naruto grinning back at him. His blue eyes screaming 'Sasuke don't screw me over!' and he remembered the Amazons and how they entrusted him with a second chance, one he honestly believed he didn't deserve.

Minato lowered his head and sighed, a sweeping breeze played with his shaggy blonde hair, he slammed the door shut and calmed his growing deviant ambitions. _'Dammit, why me? Naruto is deserving of a new life, one where he is praised and loved. And be the hero that will save the future and end senseless war. Not the self-righteous Uchiha avenger, missing ninja, mass murderer, and international terrorist.'_

Okyu diverted his attention from the troublesome task of gathering the dummy's hay, the loud slam of the entrance door lead the Nara to notice Minato making his way toward him. Okyu spotted the normally cheerful blonde throw him a pissed glare, Okyu furrowed his brows in curiosity. Before a sly smirk played upon his handsome face, he stood to greet Minato.

Okyu offered an informal salute with his index and middle fingers together, "Yo!"

Minato nodded as acknowledgement of the dark-haired boy and pushed past the Nara, to Okyu's shock the Namikaze wordlessly began to gather up the hay. Stuffing the hay into the bisected areas of the target dummy. Okyu stared incredulously at the strange boy before he went ahead and asked, "Minato what are you doing?"

Still gathering up hay and stuffing the contents in the dummy, he answered with his back to the Nara. "What does it look like dobe, I'm helping you fix your mess."

Okyu simply stood in silence as he took in the blonde's words, taking a bit of time to process them properly, he clenched his fist and started yelling at Minato. "Hey you asshole, who are you calling 'dobe'?! I could kick your genius ass right now!"

Minato was glad his back was to Okyu, he hid the pleased smirk that played upon his face. _'I think I might like this guy..maybe.' _Minato stood from the piles of hay, brushed himself off and turned toward Okyu, after a momentary silence Minato nodded then shifted into an odd taijutsu stance. A bastard offspring of the Orchimaru's hebi style and the advanced tiers of the Uchiha taijutsu style, with a dash of the Gai's strong fist.

"Alright then, Okyu. Show me what you can do." Minato smirked arrogantly as he knew it would piss off the Nara as it did many of his opponents in battle, especially Naruto, Minato had to conceal a full-blown grin when Okyu reacted.

The Nara dropped into the basic Academy taijutsu stance, and narrowed his light brown eyes in irritation. "Fine bastard, if you want a beating so bad. All you had to do was ask!" Okyu growled but Minato could pick up on the playful tone to his voice, he was excited to be doing this too.

Suddenly Minato was hit with a vague memory that quickly became familiar, his brain harboring and syncing the memories with his past ones. This was also a common task between the two, a type of male bonding between the Namikaze and Nara was sparring. Minato smirked as he wondered if this was how he and Naruto would be like if they got along a bit better.

Without warning Okyu lunged forward with a spinning kick aimed for the blonde's mop of hair, it was intercepted by Minato's forearm. Minato pushed away the kick causing Okyu to lose his footing for a moment, he leaned back and touched the dirt with his hands. Okyu sprung from his hands and vaulted over Minato, who snapped a kick at the Nara in mid-air. Okyu threw both of his arms infront of his face in time to defend himself, the force behind the kick heaved Okyu backwards in the air.

"Dammit!"

Okyu cursed aloud as he soared in the air at dizzying speeds, he noticed a blonde flash speeding beneath him. Tucking his knees into his chest, Okyu completely rolled in mid-air as he descended, and shot out both of his legs as a dropkick at the approaching blonde. Minato took the full brunt of the dropkick to his chest, being blown off his feet and knocked to the ground.

Okyu landed in a crouch before he blanched in horror as he leaped from the volley of shuriken the downed Minato sent his way, "Crap! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Okyu realized that the weapons were merely a distraction as the blonde anticipated his escape route and launched forward, cocking back his right fist, the fist collided with the Nara's jaw. The momentum bringing Okyu toward the ground, yet he recovered before falling to the dirt. He slammed a single palm to the ground and held up his weight, and swiped at the Namikaze's waist with his shin. Minato smirked before he turned toward the incoming strike and caught the leg in his hands, gripping tightly, he twirled and heaved Okyu away from him.

Okyu cursed aloud as he was sent flying once again by Minato's raw strength, Okyu bounced and tumbled across the ground before coming to a halt upon his back. Minato groaned in pain as he sat up and managed to rest on one knee while he took a quick breather, Minato seemed to also take the chance to recollect himself but didn't seem as exhausted.

Still an arrogant smirk tugged at his lips, "Okyu if that is all you're bringing to the table, just call it quits now. Before I crush you." Minato throughly enjoyed toying with the Nara, admittedly the guy was pretty skilled, his speed was slightly lacking in comparison to his own. Yet his strength, taijutsu, and stamina were all impressive considering his age. Minato returned his attention to the raising Nara who withdrew a kunai, his gaze piercing and fierce.

"I haven't even shown you a fraction of my skill, Minato. I still got more that I wanted to withhold, but if you want my all..then no problem!" Okyu threw three shuriken at Minato who deflected the tools with a kunai, and rushed forward clashing with Okyu's kunai. The two boys glared at each other as they tried to push each other, but to no avail their strength was equal.

Okyu withdrew from the stalemate and jumped back a bit before he turned, and threw a roundhouse kick at Minato. The blonde genius simply leaned backwards, perfectly bent horizontally. Allowing the heel to cycle past him, stretching backwards the blonde arced his back while his hands slapped on the ground. Minato sent his feet rocket toward Okyu, who folded his arms under his chin to block the strike while remaining grounded. Okyu drove his foot into the blonde's back, sending Minato skidding across the dirt upon his face. Yet Minato recovered instantly and used the momentum to roll backwards into a crouch, Minato stood up and sent an approving nod in Okyu's direction.

"Not bad, yet still not enough to best me."

Minato leaped forward and twirled with a downward axe heel aimed for Okyu's head, Okyu spun out of the attack's range and watched Minato's foot smash into the earth. Okyu launched ahead and attacked the blonde with a barrage of swift jabs, which were blocked with smacks and palms as Minato was backed away. Upon finding an opening Minato drove his knee into Okyu's gut, causing the Nara to hunch over. Yet not defeated, before Minato could deliver another strike he felt a strong vise grip around his waist.

Okyu clenched Minato and fluently raised him a few feet from the ground and began to spin rapidly, the two boys looked like a vortex of bright colors. Okyu leaped from the ground, flooded his muscles with chakra, and body slammed the Namikaze into the dirt; creating a thunderous clap as the two bodies indented into the earth. A small cloud of dust kicked up from the impact before being blown away, revealing a tired Okyu kneeling over Minato.

Sweat layered the dark-haired child as he turned his attention to his unconscious pal, he managed a triumphant grin. "Ha!..Take that pretty boy..I win this one!" Suddenly Okyu's features contorted in pain as a chakra inforced foot crashed into his gut, hurling Okyu from the small crater into the air. His pain replaced with anger as he realized Minato was playing possum.

_'He's really a tough one.'_

Flipping in mid-air Okyu gathered his chakra, Okyu felt the familiar feel of the wind whip about him as he stared at the raising Namikaze. Withdrawing three more shuriken from his pouch that rested on his backside, he nurtured the weaponry with his wind chakra. Thick visible green chakra washed over the shuriken as he watched Minato's face adopt a look of annoyance, Okyu smirked as he whipped the projectiles toward the blonde.

"Take this Minato!"

Minato cursed to himself as the noticeably volley of wind-enhanced shuriken race toward him, swiftly upon instinct the blonde began to form a series of familiar handseals. Despite not having tested his body in combat and its capabilities since his revival, he prayed to the Amazons that this worked. Stopping on the final handseal of the tiger before he inhaled a deep breath to expand his diaphragm, he remained cool as the shuriken were just meters from slicing him up like the target dummy.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

A small orb of wild flames burst from the blonde's mouth before quickly expanding to the size of a small house, the fireball hurled forward and swallowed the wind-enhanced projectiles which strengthened the flames. The fireball boomed to nearly double the orignal size as it soared toward the air-borne Nara, who froze as the flames swallowed him whole.

_'No!'_

Minato watched in horror as the flames overtook Okyu and made the child vanish from view, suddenly a thick whirlwind billowed through the flames at an alarming rate fighting back the flames. Though unnoticed to the panicking Minato who struggled to release the stream of fire, as the whirlwind drew closer Minato was victim to a vicious fist that shot through the flames right into the blonde's nose.

"Wind Style : Screech of the Whirlwind Jutsu!"

A pressurized burst of wind chakra completely dispersed the remaining flames apart as Okyu emerged from the inferno, as well as flinging the blonde Namikaze into a tree from the force of the punch. Okyu immediately doubled over as he coughed up some blood, exhaustion threatening to take him into unconsciousness. Yet his will to stand victorious was strong enough to allow him to crouch upon on one knee, as he watched the still form of Minato begin to stir.

_'Dammit that hurt!'_

Minato swore to himself as he slowly sat up from the ground, nursing the stinging sensation that flared upon his face. He licked his lips and noted the metallic taste of blood, touching a finger to his lips he saw he was bleeding excessively from his nose. Minato shrugged as he turned an impassive gaze upon Okyu who looked equally worn down. _'I think he broke it..'_

Minato winced as he touched his broken nose lightly, yet still he turned a playful smirk upon the Nara. "Not bad Okyu, you actually got a good shot off of me." Okyu smiled in response, glad to accept some kind of praise from his rival/best friend but that was ruined as the blonde spoke some more.

"But you're still a loser."

"Shut up Namikaze!"

Both children fell flat-out upon the ground as they rested from the quickly escalated spar, Minato allowed his thoughts to turn into those about Naruto. Throughout the spar with Okyu, Minato could not help but note the uncanny parallels between the two. Amazing the former Uchiha concluded, even in this life he would befriend a total moron with a unhindered desire to surpass him. _'I guess Okyu isn't that bad, would you approve of this one Itachi? Naruto?'_

"What in the world happened here!?"

Immediately both boys leaped from the relaxed positions to regard the fuming Akimichi instructor, Toru. Said man was turning an impressive shade of red as he observed the totally decimated area of the practice field, he turned his sights upon the troublesome pair.

"Minato!..Okyu!"

Both eight year old Academy students turned toward the raging Akimichi as he snatched them up, carrying each upon his shoulder as if they were babies. The noted as they traveled through the now empty Shinobi Academy that the school day had ended, and Toru must have come to check upon the Nara delinquent. Minato smirked as he was piggy-backed through the village toward the Hokage's office, what a first day back at the Academy.

_'How troublesome can the rest of this day get?' _Minato pondered as he noticed Okyu flashing a cocky grin, which caused the Namikaze to furrow his brows and bark at the boy.

"What are you looking at dobe?"

Okyu Nara simply smiled before he pointed at the slightly crooked nose of the Namikaze, "Nothing. Just that wonderful shiner you earned from your ass-beating!"

The Nara erupted into an uncontrolled fit of laughter, before a super expanded fist slammed upon the boy's hand silencing the child. "Stop all that damn cursing Okyu!"

Now it was Minato's turn to laugh as he allowed a pleased and humorous chuckle to escape his mouth, as a full-blown grin spread across his forever pretty boy features. For that moment he allowed the anger, anguish, and the Uchiha curse of hatred to leave him as he embraced this new part of his second life_. 'It may not be so bad to have an ally like Okyu around to help me fix the future.'_

Sasuke turned his head toward the looming Hokage tower, then turned his pensive eyes upon the Hokage Monument. A strange feeling of anticipation edged in his mind as he noted the lack of his face up there with his predecessors, he recalled the bold declaration of Naruto.

_'I'll save the world, but without having to become the Hokage.' _Sasuke modified Naruto's dream to a more realistic and less troublesome version, it suited the Uchiha turned Namikaze quite well.

* * *

_**Hey Taijen here!**_

_**Sup fanfiction readers, hope you guys and gals enjoyed the latest installment of 'A Few Steps Back'. This chapter I know is short and lacking in progression in comparison to how I normally handle my fics, but don't worry folks things will get better progressively. Because nobody gets worse at something they do often only better, so I assure you quality can only go up from here! Anyway those wondering what the point of this chapter was, no it wasn't just to write a fight scene, but to realistically help Sasuke cope with being Minato Namikaze. The loss of his heritage and clan that he crusaded and lived his last breath for, is a serious blow to his character. So in the future I will explain how Sasuke changed during his time as the singular 'Kage' of the Shinobi Alliance the five years between Naruto's death and Madara's victory, and how he devised a moral code that was hero-like but still true to his Uchiha-avenger mindset.**_

_**The spar with Okyu is also an introduction to the parallel friendship of Sasuke and Naruto, Okyu will be simillar to Naruto but not just some carbon copy. He will act as a great friend and ally to Minato. (I will be referring to Sasuke as Minato from now on). And whoever I decide to put in as the last teammate, also I am debating whether to replace Jiraiya with Sakumo Hatake (A.K.A Kakashi's Pops). What do you guys think?**_

_**Anyway guys please be on the look out for chapter 5 of 'Turn of Events: Reloaded', the next chapter is in the works and is probably about 33% completed by my estimates. And thanks to all the people who checked out the last update of T.O.E Reloaded, I was surprised by the nearly 200 jump in views and a 100 or so visitors! You guys rock!**_

_**Taijen signing out, have a blessed day/night/afternoon/whatever!**_

_**Character Profile :**_

_**Okyu Nara**_

_**Okyu Nara is a Academy student hailing from the praised Nara clan, though unlike a lot of his clansmen his strength is elsewhere instead of his brain. Okyu is considered a looker and often deemed attractive by older girls, he has pale complexion and dark hair with light brown eyes. He wears his hair in a unique style , tied in a ponytail that goes forward against his hair with jaw length bangs framing the sides of his face. Okyu often wears a dark blue shirt with thick red stripes vertically up his sides and red sleeves. And sports tan multi-pocketed pants with blue sandals. A kunai holster on both thighs, and a single weapons pouch upon his backside.**_

_**Okyu hopes to live up to the Nara clan's standards, since talent is in his taijutsu and ninjutsu while he lacks greatly in academics. Though he hopes to make up for his downfall with hardwork and studying.**_


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